San Francisco officials say major tech companies and shuttle bus operators have agreed to an 18-month experiment during which they’ll pay to use some Muni bus stops and take other steps to cooperate with public transit in the city.

At a press conference this afternoon at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Mayor Ed Lee said the city will issue permits to both tech companies and bus operators and charge them to use about 200 of Muni’s 2,500 bus stops. As part of the agreement, the companies and charter operators have agreed to not block Muni buses at the stops, to stay away from stops for which they don’t have permits and to stay off the city’s narrower, steeper streets.

Ed Reiskin, the director of the transportation agency, said companies will pay a dollar for every stop they make at the 200 stops — a total of about $1.5 million over the life of the 18-month pilot. Google, Genentech, Apple, Facebook and other companies are participating in the experiment along with UC San Francisco, other college campuses and some office buildings that run shuttles in the city.